UH men’s golf selected to compete at NCAA Eugene Regional

Published 10:24 am, Monday, May 5, 2014

For the third straight season, the University of Houston Men’s Golf program will compete in the NCAA postseason when it takes part as the No. 2 seed at the NCAA Eugene Regional at Eugene Country Club.

This marks the third straight season that the Cougars will compete as a team during the NCAA postseason. It’s the first time that Houston has accomplished that feat since 1998-01, while the Cougars’ seeding is the highest since last season’s No. 5 seeding at the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional.

The NCAA Eugene Regional will be held May 15-17 on the 6,854-yard, par-72 course at Eugene Country Club. Fans can follow live scoring by visiting Golfstat.com and following the appropriate links or by clicking here.

“We are very excited to have the opportunity to travel to Eugene, Ore., to compete at the NCAA Regional,” said Director of Golf Jonathan Dismuke. “We are looking forward to the challenge.”

Houston has posted a combined 12-2 record against teams at the NCAA Eugene Regional this season. It will be the first time that the Cougars have faced Stanford, Oregon, North Florida, East Tennessee State and Wichita State in 2013-14.

With this being the Cougars’ first trip to the Pacific Northwest during Dismuke’s tenure, his team will need to make some minor adjustments when they arrive for practice next week. However, the fifth-year Houston head coach isn’t concerned about that.

“We will have to make adjustments to the grass. The course will be big and tree-lined, and there will be a premium on driving the ball. Courses in the Pacific Northwest tend to have some rough, so we will have to make adjustments,” Dismuke said. “It’s nothing that we don’t prepare our guys for throughout the year. That’s why it’s important to play in different parts of the country and see different courses. You have to be ready for these situations. You don’t get to choose where you get to go. The situation chooses you.”

The Cougars learned their postseason destination Monday morning during the NCAA Selection Show on The Golf Channel’s Morning Drive show.

THIS SEASON

The Cougars have enjoyed tremendous success during the 2013-14 campaign. Houston has been ranked among the nation’s top-20 leaders in all national polls for the majority of the season, rising as high as No. 7 at one point.

Houston has earned four team championships, including three consecutive titles to open the spring campaign. Junior Roman Robledo captured four individual titles, including three straight to open the spring, while junior Kyle Pilgrim won the first medalist honor after shooting a final-round 66 at the Fighting Irish Gridiron Classic on Sept. 23-24.

“We have a veteran team, and I like our group a lot. We are more seasoned with some more experience, and that should bode well for us,” Dismuke said. “We have improved over the course of the year and have a solid group. I expect us to do well.“

Robledo leads the Cougars with a 71.34 scoring average and 21 rounds of par or better, while Ross ranks second on the team with a 72.31 average.

In addition, Ross has garnered international attention this season. He represented his native Scotland on Team Europe in an international friendly match vs. Team Asia/Pacific for the Sir Michael Bonallack Trophy in late March and was a Team Europe selection for the Palmer Cup, a Ryder Cup-like competition vs. Team USA in late-June.

Reed is the only Cougar to compete in every team scoring event during his career the last four years and has moved into the program’s top-5 career leaders in strokes and rounds played.

Houston enters the NCAA Eugene Regional after finishing third at the inaugural American Athletic Conference Championships in late April. Robledo tied for fourth for his third consecutive top-5 finish at a conference championships event, while Reed fired back-to-back 70s in the final two rounds to finish eighth.

UP NEXT

The top five teams and the top individual player not on a top-5 team will advance to the NCAA Championships on May 23-28 at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kan.

Houston has not competed as a team at the NCAA Championships since 2001.